The Commission establishes sentencing policies and practices for the federal courts. Each year, the Commission reviews and refines these policies in light of congressional action, decisions from courts of appeals, sentencing-related research, and input from the criminal justice community.

In this section, you can follow the Commission’s work through the amendment cycle as priorities are set, research is performed, testimony is heard, and amendments are adopted.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission is an independent agency in the judicial branch that was created as part of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. Commissioners are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Attorney General, or the Attorney General’s designee, and the Chair of the U.S. Parole Commission serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the Commission.

In this section, learn about the Commission’s mission, structure, and ongoing work.

Summary

This report is submitted pursuant to section 225(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, requiring the Commission to submit a report explaining actions taken in response to the Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2002, and offering policy recommendations regarding statutory penalties. The Commission specifically considered enumerated in the directive, and considered the extent to which each was or was not accounted for by existing sentencing guidelines and policy statements. The Commission promulgated an amendment designed to more fully account for specific factors relevant to computer offenses. (May 2003)

Key Findings

Section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, proscribes a wide range of criminal conduct involving computers. There are nine different offenses codified in section 1030, and they have statutory maximum penalties ranging from one year to life imprisonment

As part of its review of the guidelines applicable to computer crime, the Commission analyzed data for 116 cases with convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1030 sentenced in fiscal years 2001 and 2002.

The new amendment specifically addresses four of the factors listed in the directive – malicious intent, invasions of privacy, computer systems used in furtherance of the administration of justice, national defense, and national security, and significant interference with a critical infrastructure – in one new specific offense characteristic in §2B1.1.

The Commission recommends that Congress consider increasing statutory maximum penalties for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(1), which proscribes the accessing and dissemination of national defense or restricted information with reason to believe that such information could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.

The Commission shares the concerns of Congress regarding the importance of deterring and appropriately punishing computer crimes. The amendment promulgated by the Commission reflects the serious and risky nature of many computer offenses.